BARFI!

DIRECTOR: Anurag Basu - INDIA

In this timeless, enchanting fable, rising Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor gives a winning performance as a deaf-mute man whose life is a series of comic and tragic misadventures. Dedicated to Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, the nearly wordless Barfi! follows the resourceful title character as he falls in and out of love with the beautiful Shruti, whose parents pressure her into a respectable arranged marriage. Later, he finds love again with the autistic Jhilmil—whose father plots to defraud her of a sizable trust fund—only for Shruti to unexpectedly reenter his life. In between, Barfi finds himself caught up in a...

In this timeless, enchanting fable, rising Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor gives a winning performance as a deaf-mute man whose life is a series of comic and tragic misadventures. Dedicated to Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, the nearly wordless Barfi! follows the resourceful title character as he falls in and out of love with the beautiful Shruti, whose parents pressure her into a respectable arranged marriage. Later, he finds love again with the autistic Jhilmil—whose father plots to defraud her of a sizable trust fund—only for Shruti to unexpectedly reenter his life. In between, Barfi finds himself caught up in a bank robbery, two botched kidnappings, and all other manner of slapstick mayhem. This broadly entertaining treat for film lovers of all ages is this year’s Indian submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. (151 mins.)

A CURIOUS CONJUNCTION OF COINCIDENCES

An absurdist journey through time in which the worlds of three hapless heroes living in different centuries collide unexpectedly in present-day Amsterdam. (9 mins.)

THE OTHER SIDE

DIRECTOR: Khen Shalem - (Israel)

A young Israeli boy, the last to be picked for soccer teams but the one who owns the ball, finds an unusual friendship with someone on the Palestinian side of the West Bank separation wall. But can a wordless, gaze-free relationship survive with only a ball between them? (22 mins.)

HEAD OVER HEELS

DIRECTOR: Timothy Reckart - (United States)

After many years of marriage, Walter and Madge have grown apart: he lives on the floor and she lives on the ceiling. (10 mins.)

PITCH BLACK HEIST

DIRECTOR: John Maclean - (Great Britain)

Michael Fassbender stars in this dark, suspenseful tale of a professional safe cracker who encounters a hitch while on the job. (13 mins.)

MR. CHRISTMAS

DIRECTOR: Nick Palmer - (United States)

Bruce Mertz is the kind of guy who lights up the lives of those around him—quite literally—when every holiday season he transforms his house into a beacon with 50,000 colorful lights and himself into Mr. Christmas. (15 mins.)

A BRIEF HISTORY OF JOHN BALDESSARI

DIRECTOR: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman - (United States)

No more boring films! Everything you need to know about the godfather of conceptual art. Narrated by Tom Waits. (6 mins.)

BEYOND THE HILLS

DIRECTOR: Cristian Mungiu - ROMANIA

Based on a real-life case of supposed demonic possession, Mungiu’s gripping existential drama takes place at a remote Orthodox monastery in Moldavia where devout young women give up all. Alina (Cristina Flutur) arrives to visit her meek friend Voichita (Cosmina Stratan), a nun in training, and desperately tries to convince her to return to Germany with her. But Voichita is unsure, and so the tougher but untethered Alina hangs around in hopes of prevailing. But as the days pass, the oppressive environment takes a further toll on Alina and her sense of identity. Soon, the conflict between personal empowerment and...

Based on a real-life case of supposed demonic possession, Mungiu’s gripping existential drama takes place at a remote Orthodox monastery in Moldavia where devout young women give up all. Alina (Cristina Flutur) arrives to visit her meek friend Voichita (Cosmina Stratan), a nun in training, and desperately tries to convince her to return to Germany with her. But Voichita is unsure, and so the tougher but untethered Alina hangs around in hopes of prevailing. But as the days pass, the oppressive environment takes a further toll on Alina and her sense of identity. Soon, the conflict between personal empowerment and religious dogma leads to a harrowing prescription. For their remarkable lead performances, Flutur and Stratan shared the Best Actress Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. (150 mins.)

Selected Filmography: 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days (07), Tales from the Golden Age (09)

This year’s Romanian submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.

BLANCANIEVES

DIRECTOR: Pablo Berger - SPAIN

This year’s Spanish submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar is a 1920s, silent-set reworking of the Brothers Grimm fairytale “Snow White,” offset by punchy Flamenco rhythms and full of imagination. Rejected at birth by her father, Carmencita (Macarena Garciá) is raised by her grandmother. But when her grandmother dies, the poor dark-haired maiden is sent to the lower depths of her evil stepmother’s villa. Maribel Verdú (Y Tu Mamá También) gives an ingeniously smart, campy performance as the villainess, hell-bent on keeping Carmencita from Prince Charming—here a bullfighting dwarf!—and thwarting her dreams of becoming a matador.“ While Michel...

This year’s Spanish submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar is a 1920s, silent-set reworking of the Brothers Grimm fairytale “Snow White,” offset by punchy Flamenco rhythms and full of imagination. Rejected at birth by her father, Carmencita (Macarena Garciá) is raised by her grandmother. But when her grandmother dies, the poor dark-haired maiden is sent to the lower depths of her evil stepmother’s villa. Maribel Verdú (Y Tu Mamá También) gives an ingeniously smart, campy performance as the villainess, hell-bent on keeping Carmencita from Prince Charming—here a bullfighting dwarf!—and thwarting her dreams of becoming a matador.“ While Michel Hazanavicius’s Oscar winner, The Artist, was a playful valentine to pre-talkies Hollywood, Spanish writer-director Berger’s inventive Andalusian tale is a love letter to 1920s European silent film, effortlessly mixing humor and melodrama in delightful fashion.”—Hollywood Reporter(90 mins.)

BLOOD OF MY BLOOD

DIRECTOR: João Canijo - PORTUGAL

This year’s Portuguese submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar and a critical and popular hit in Portugal, Canijo’s film balances nuanced social realism and intense melodrama to fashion a sprawling, humane portrait of a troubled working class family. Márcia is a weary matriarch who lives with her lonely sister Ivete and grown children—delinquent Joca and nursing student Cláudia—in suburban Lisbon. Cláudia’s affair with a married professor and Joca’s involvement with drug dealers threaten Márcia’s attempts to keep her family afloat. Employing tracking shots and overlapping dialogue, Canijo follows the family through the cramped spaces of the household, mapping...

This year’s Portuguese submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar and a critical and popular hit in Portugal, Canijo’s film balances nuanced social realism and intense melodrama to fashion a sprawling, humane portrait of a troubled working class family. Márcia is a weary matriarch who lives with her lonely sister Ivete and grown children—delinquent Joca and nursing student Cláudia—in suburban Lisbon. Cláudia’s affair with a married professor and Joca’s involvement with drug dealers threaten Márcia’s attempts to keep her family afloat. Employing tracking shots and overlapping dialogue, Canijo follows the family through the cramped spaces of the household, mapping the physical and emotional distances between the characters in a way that lends a sense of vivid vérité. (131 mins.)

Selected Filmography: Get A Life (01), In the Darkness of the Night (04), Misbegotten (07)